In art, sport, home, industry and other fields, there are many processes that are applied to round or cylindrical objects, or approximately round or cylindrical, such as octagonal or oval, where a fixture is needed to hold the objects in place for the process. Sometimes the process is to be applied to two or more sides of the objects, requiring the objects to be rotated before further processing is possible. For example, objects can be treated with light, chemicals or radiation, or the objects can be painted, washed, inspected, printed, etched, photographed, or any of several other processes.
As a specific example, modern printers, such as ultraviolet (UV) ink jet printers, are often used to print on the curved surfaces of objects, such as printing a company logo on the curved surfaces of ink pens. Typically, the multi-sided printing of objects in small batch jobs requires the objects to be placed in custom foam-board fixtures that are designed and built for each specific type of object or product. Many of these jobs are done on small UV ink jet printers with high gantries (HG) and printable areas in the range of 1 to 3 square feet, although any size flatbed can be used as long as the product fits under the gantry.
Such printers are excellent for printing on round or cylindrical objects, including markers, batteries, collets, corks, test tubes, flashlights, lipstick and lip balm tubes, lasers and pointers, pencils and pens, nail polish and perfume bottles, wedding and party favors, ear plugs and their cases, chalk, confetti tubes, mascara, shot glasses and mini liquor bottles, mini telescopes and monoculars, lighters, cigars, e-cigarettes, super balls, golf balls, ping pong balls, candy tubes and candy rolls, thimbles, erasers, balms, bath salts and other bath products, candles and candle holders, jewelry, electronics such as capacitors, transistors, fuses, diodes, mini power banks, USB ports and chargers, etc., many types of containers, mechanical parts, models, samples, displays and promotional items of all sorts and sizes.
The fixtures commonly used for printing such objects are customized for a specific product by cutting out shapes in a board, often foam board, so the individual items can be secured in the respective cutouts in the board during printing thereon. Since various objects can have a variety of different diameters and shapes, a print shop needs many different fixtures to be constructed. The procurement of multiple, custom fixtures can be expensive, time consuming, and require substantial organization and storage space. Accordingly, there exists a need for a single fixture that accommodates many different sizes and shapes of objects.
Furthermore, many objects are printed on two or more sides, requiring the operator to manually remove the object from the fixture, turn the object, and then reinsert the object into the fixture for the processing of each side. Commonly used fixtures do not allow for quick, easy, and precise synchronous turning of multiple objects for multi-sided printing. For example, to print a company logo on two sides of a lipstick case, the case is manually removed from the fixture after the first printing, flipped over or rotated, and then placed back in the fixture for the second printing. With numerous objects in a fixture, this manual procedure is time consuming and there is no straightforward way to ensure that all items are rotated accurately. For instance, if a plurality of objects is to be printed on three sides, the operator may incorrectly estimate the 120° angle to rotate each object, which ultimately results in inconsistent and incorrectly printed objects. In practice, the operator visually determines if the first printed logo appears to be facing the correct position. This visual inspection process is repeated for each object. However, if many objects are to be printed on multiple sides, this visual-manual turning process becomes very inefficient and prone to error. Consequently, there exists a need for an apparatus and a method to synchronously turn the objects in a way that enables the process to be conducted correctly and efficiently.
In the field of ink jet printers, motorized fixtures are sometimes used to rotate a large cylinder, such as a water bottle or wine bottle, in order to wrap the printing around the entire circumference or a portion of the circumference of the cylinder. Such an apparatus and process can be effective for wrap-printing large, cylindrical objects, but such an apparatus and process is highly inefficient for other jobs, such as printing numerous small round or cylindrical objects on multiple sides.
Another type of motorized fixture known in the printing industry is sometimes used to print cell phone cases on the back and on the two long edges without removing the cases from the fixture. While these fixtures may be effective for their intended purpose, such fixtures are ineffective for other jobs, such as printing numerous small round or cylindrical objects on multiple sides. To print numerous round or cylindrical objects using such a fixture, each of the objects would need to be individually attached to the fixture and then manually removed and reattached if printing were needed on the bottom side (or opposite side). In addition, each internal fixture would need to be redesigned and made to custom fit each object. Accordingly, there exists a further need for an apparatus and a method for quickly and easily placing multiple small objects, such as dozens, hundreds, or thousands of objects, depending on their respective sizes, onto a single fixture that easily and synchronously rotates all of the objects to a new, easily identifiable position for additional processing on another side of the objects.
Many machines use zero coordinate methods to establish alignment between the machine and the media to be worked. For example, the machines may shine a thin light beam to display the 0, 0 coordinates on the media to be processed. Multiple coordinate checks may be involved, often using a computer interface, which is daunting and time consuming, especially for first time users studying the lengthy operator manuals. While these methods may serve their purpose for certain applications, they are not typically useful in establishing alignment for numerous items to be worked at once, especially if the items are not uniform in size or shape. For example, if a plurality of elongate objects is to be printed near one end, but not the other end, the zero coordinate methods cannot ensure correct alignment because the objects could be accidentally placed backwards. Therefore, an apparatus and method is needed to ensure quick and reliable alignment of machines to multiple media to be worked.
Some printers that use zero coordinate beams do not provide for alignment of all objects to print. These machines may instead use plates to perform test drawings, but as their instructions indicate, this alignment method is intended to check for “drawing defects” caused by nozzle clogging, low ink supply, or other issues with the machine. While such alignment methods may serve that stated purpose, these methods are not intended for the purpose of checking alignment of the print with the product and cannot be used for that purpose since the plate and test media are opaque. Consequently, there exists a need for an apparatus and method to ensure correct alignment of the printer with all objects to be printed. There further exists a need for a software template that enables quick and easy placement of artwork or other process instructions at the correct positions to ensure desired outcomes.
While a process is being performed on a batch of objects, the operator may have idle time, yet when the operator is loading and unloading a fixture, the machine itself may have idle time. To maximize efficiency, there exists a need to organize the work in such a way as to minimize idle time. A duplicate fixture may be procured for loading during processing on the original fixture. This duplicate fixture is then switched when processing on the original fixture is complete. However, this strategy doubles the number of fixtures to be built, purchased, stored, and organized. Furthermore, such switching of fixtures requires a realignment process each time one of the fixtures is installed onto the printer bed. Accordingly, there exists a need for a multipurpose auxiliary fixture or tray that holds round or spherical objects of many different sizes, which can be loaded during the machine process, either manually or with an automated method, in preparation to quickly and efficiently transfer the objects from the auxiliary fixture to the primary fixture when the machine process has been completed.
Once the machine process is complete, the processed round or cylindrical objects must be removed from the primary fixture before new objects are placed thereon for the next batch. A typical removal method involves hand-picking each object from the fixture and placing it elsewhere. However, with numerous objects on the fixture, this manual, one-by-one removal method is very time-consuming. Accordingly, there exists a need for an apparatus and method configured to simultaneously extract all of the objects from the fixture in one continuous motion.
Furthermore, there are many processes that are applied to non-round, non-cylindrical objects in batches, where a fixture is needed to hold the objects in place for the process. Sometimes the process is to be applied to two or more sides of the objects, requiring the objects to be repositioned in some manner before further processing is possible. For example, to print on magnets, lighters, spoons, gift boxes, or iPhone covers, a custom fixture is typically made for each object to hold multiples of the item in place for printing. Accordingly, there exists a need for a single fixture that can easily align and releasably secure such non-round, non-cylindrical objects for multi-sided processing.